Overweight IT Contractors' weight loss diary: day 1

[AtW]

Go to the gym... don't be a lazy potato couch....

Will join gym when I drop weight, at least 5-7 kg, via jogging and general activity, this should prepare me better for muscle growing.

[xoggoth]

Hmm yes, Snap. I have managed to avoid any Mars bars or crisps today. I am starting to have a nice pair of tits though I say so myself.

[BrilloPad]

Now I can't go to the gym I use slimming world

I always used to lose weight by excercise. But a chronic bad back stopped that. So I put on weight. Which made back worse.

Slimming world has broken the cycle. You either have a red day or green day. red day you can eat meat(fat free) - green day you can eat carbs(potato/pasta/rice). veg and fruit are allowed in any quantity.

Its working well for me.

Hopefully pilates/weight loss will get me back to doing excercise like all you wipper-snappers.

And don't call me fat. I'm 43 you know - have some respect for your elders.

[IR35 Avoider]

your talking bo11ocks. 20 / 30 mins of gently exercise (raised HR to 65% of max) a day will be significantly benificial to just about anyone.

I agree. I do 24 minutes a day on the rowing machine, five days a week, using a heart rate monitor to ensure the rate is always above 120.

According to the rowing machines computer this burns 300 calories each day.

This is the equivalent of less than a sandwich, in food terms.

My point is that it takes a huge amount of exercise to get rid of a very small amount of calories. It is much, much easier to reduce the amount of calories eaten.

Also, I've seen medical advice that it is not advisable to rely on exercise for weight loss, as you will not be able to maintain it in the event of injury, illness, infirmity through old age, etc.

The best way is to permanently change change your eating habits. I believe it is necessary to go through an extended period of calorie counting in order to understand what needs to be done. You have to it for months if not years, because (a) that is how long it takes to lose significant amounts of weight, at the maximum recommended rate of 2 pounds a week, and (b) it takes a long time to ingrain new habits. In my case, I did it for nearly a year, during which I lost 44 pounds, which I've kept off for four years now.

If I had tried to lose weight by increasing my exercise alone, I calculate I would have had to row nearly three hours a day, while keeping my food intake the same. (Calculation assumed in the region of 3000 calories a day, of which 1500 needed to be offset by exercising.)

I challenge you or anyone else to make a similar claim of weight-loss success achieved mainly by exercising. I believe people who say dieting is easy or can be done by exercising (a) haven't dieted successfully, by my standards, and (b) are in denial, because they don't want to give up their food habit.

[IR35 Avoider]

It is simple in it's execution. It's difficult to implement a strict regime to a diet in the "modern" day as is the simple understanding of metabolism.

You have to make time for regular exercise. I cycle each day to do odd jobs like shopping, post etc Any excuse come rain or shine.

You have to say no to the majority mid-week curries.

You have to ditch the processed foods like crips, packaged sandwiches, microwaved convenient foods, puddings, biscuits, processed bread, red meat etc and eat more fresh fruit, fish, fresh pasta and vegetables. Processed foods contain more fat than you could possibly imagine (let alone any of the other cr@p they put in) and having the same physical amount of natural food would instantly be a step in the right direction.

Drop your portion sizes. It is quite amazing how some people fill a plate of food each night like Mr Greedy at the Harvester salad bar.

Take the stairs everywhere you can.

Try and reduce your alcohol intake. If you abstain for long periods of time you find you only need a couple of glasses to send you off into netherland at night.

Avoid stupid fad diets and Weightwatchers.

Have a cholesterol and blood pressure test if you need motivation. Our industry has a high propensity for heart disease due to it's potentially sedentary lifestyle AND STRESS.


Bottles of wine are my weakness, but if I didn't do the above I'm sure I would be dead fairly quickly working in IT, especially as there is a history of heart disease in my family. I still enjoy all my food as you know, but controlling the saturated fat content in my meals by avoiding processed food is an easy win.

I agree with what you say about processed foods. Counting calories taught me that even fruit juice, is a processed food, compared to fresh fruit, something that wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise. I'm even aware that, as staple foods go, bread and pasta are processed foods, in comparison to rice, potatoes and oatmeal porridge. It's not that they're terrible - in fact my main reason for avoiding having bread in the house is that it's easy to over-eat anything that doesn't have to be cooked.

[Churchill]

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, it just uses less space

PS BMI is a good rule of thumb, unless you are a weightlifter of course. Fat people often say BMI is nonsense because they are in denial.

Jesus, you're talking tulipe!

According to the BMI, most of the British Lions are clinically obese!

[IR35 Avoider]

Jesus, you're talking tulipe!

According to the BMI, most of the British Lions are clinically obese!

It is known that BMI doesn't work for top sportsman. If you train for several hours a day, because you are a professional sportsman, it won't work for you. If you don't, it does.

[Mr Crosby]

Jesus, you're talking tulipe!

According to the BMI, most of the British Lions are clinically obese!

I was in a bar at the back of Smithfield market a month or so ago, standing next to me was Martin Johnson. I'm six foot and fairly well built but they are just like giants.

[BlasterBates]

The reason why homosapiens became meat eaters was to get enough protein to feed the brain. I believe the brain consumes a lot.

So forget the rowing, just start doing memory exercises, or even better spend hours in front of a Playstation.

[Ardesco]

Avoid drinking a bottle of vodka every day.

Nazdarovija....

Well why don't you just take ALL the fin out of life